"Hyakki Yagyo Sword Style: Kamaitachi!"
The sharp wind blades formed from sword energy completely replaced this world's power attribute known as "ki." A single strike aimed directly at the neck of the Nine-Headed Dragon.
When the black blade made contact with the dragon's scales, it didn't create the metallic clang that Wood had anticipated. Instead, it cleanly sliced through, leaving a deep gash on one of the dragon's heads.
The wound was horrific, causing heavy bleeding and eliciting a pained howl from the dragon. In retaliation, the remaining heads roared in anger and attacked Wood with renewed ferocity.
The Nine-Headed Dragon had nine heads, each capable of independent attacks. Whether its main brain was in one of the heads or it had a brain in each, Wood couldn't tell.
But right now, those heads were definitely attacking autonomously.
The head closest to Wood used its sharp teeth to force him back. Another head immediately followed, smashing into him with a powerful blow, sending Wood flying.
Two more heads roared and quickly began gathering magical energy in their mouths. In just seconds, two terrifying streams of dragon breath were unleashed, crossing paths as they hurtled toward Wood, who had been knocked back.
Seeing the deadly dragon breath headed his way, Wood quickly switched to a one-handed grip on his sword and drew his magic staff from his waist to cast a defensive spell.
"Saint-Level Water Magic: Vortex Water Wall!"
A blue magic circle appeared before Wood, and torrents of water erupted to form a massive vortex, as though it could swallow anything in its path.
But the Nine-Headed Dragon's breath was even stronger than Wood had imagined. Although the water vortex provided some resistance, the dragon breath soon pierced through it, slamming Wood against the ceiling.
Realizing his magic couldn't fully defend against the breath, Wood gritted his teeth. With a "fight fire with fire" mentality, he unleashed his most powerful fire magic.
"King-Level Fire Magic: Crimson Lotus Flame Song!"
With a loud crack, the staff in Wood's hand splintered as the red magic circle expanded. The staff couldn't handle the intense magic power and shattered.
It wasn't surprising, though. Neither the sword nor the staff Wood was using originally belonged to him—they were scavenged from monsters in the labyrinth.
With the staff's poor quality, it couldn't withstand the power of his King-Level magic and immense magical energy, so its breaking was inevitable.
As the crimson magic circle appeared, the temperature in the room skyrocketed, nearly doubling in an instant. A massive pillar of flame, akin to a volcanic eruption, shot toward the Nine-Headed Dragon, molten lava in tow.
Wood's mastery of King-Level magic was limited to water and fire. While water was excellent for defense, the destructive power of fire was unparalleled. This King-Level fire magic was one of Wood's most devastating attacks.
According to the information provided by the Demon Wolf King, the Nine-Headed Dragon's weakness was fire magic. That's why Wood, despite his injuries, had risked everything to launch this powerful attack.
"This dragon breath is stronger than I thought. Even Saint-Level water magic couldn't fully block it. And it can unleash up to nine of those attacks at once..."
"I can't afford to hold back my magic. To defend against more than three streams of dragon breath, I'll have to use King-Level water magic. Otherwise, I'll be in serious danger," Wood thought.
As he fell from the ceiling, Wood spat out a mouthful of blood. The dragon breath had lost much of its power against his Saint-Level water magic, but it had still inflicted significant damage.
If not for the clothes he wore, made from the fur of the red demon wolves and providing some fire resistance, his injuries might have been even worse.
As Wood reached for one of the spare staffs at his waist, preparing to heal himself, a faint green glow suddenly appeared around him, and the wounds caused by the dragon breath began healing rapidly.
There was no need to guess—aside from Wood, the only person capable of casting such high-level healing magic was Zenith.
From the moment Wood charged at the Nine-Headed Dragon, Zenith had begun chanting her healing spells, ready to assist him at any moment.
Wood didn't reject Zenith's help. Although his magical energy was considerable, he needed to conserve it for the battle with the dragon.
Aside from healing magic, Zenith's other spells wouldn't be much help against a monster of this caliber. Her magic was most valuable when used to heal Wood, their strongest combatant.
"According to the Demon Wolf King, the Nine-Headed Dragon's weakness is fire magic. Even a monster of this level shouldn't come out unscathed after taking a direct hit from a King-Level fire spell..."
The power of King-Level magic was immense. The moment the pillar of flame struck the dragon, its entire body was engulfed in a blazing inferno.
The ground beneath its feet was scorched, turning molten in places. With such intense heat, even a monster like the Nine-Headed Dragon, whose weakness was fire, shouldn't be able to withstand it unscathed.
As Wood continued receiving Zenith's healing, his eyes remained fixed on the dragon, still engulfed in flames.
But then, a roar echoed through the chamber, shaking Wood's confidence.
With a single bellow, the Nine-Headed Dragon dispersed the flames surrounding it, revealing itself once again to Wood and the others.
Its crimson eyes burned with fury, and its nine heads roared in defiance. The metallic sheen of its scales gleamed in the dim light—there wasn't a single scratch on its body!
Not only had the dragon emerged unscathed from the King-Level fire spell, but even the wound Wood had inflicted on one of its heads earlier had completely healed.
In short, after unleashing a Saint-Level spell and a King-Level spell, expending a portion of his magic and suffering injuries, Wood had inflicted virtually no damage on the Nine-Headed Dragon.
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P/S: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 380+ at p@treon.com/Betek and change @ to a